Capacity Building

There are multiple aspects to the education, training and capacity-building component of Mid Day Meal Scheme. Capacity building and trainings have been imparted at Different Levels right from the State Office to the Head Teachers and Members of the School Managing Committees in many parts of the State. The efforts here have a focus for the long run improvement and implementation of Mid Day Meal Scheme.

Capacity Building workshops have been conducted in the office of the Directorate of School Education & Literacy, three to four times a year. The Divisional School Education Officers, Sub Divisional School Education Officers, Block Resource Coordinators, Block Resource Persons and Data Entry Operators have attended the capacity building workshops which have assisted them in enhancing their application in Mid Day Meal Scheme.

Awareness programmes have been held with members of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Anganwadi Workers, the Local Authorities, School Managing Committee and teachers of various schools regarding the guidelines of Mid Day Meal Scheme, the do’s and don’ts for preparation of Mid Day Meal and safety and hygiene measures to be adhered. The norms with aspects relating to National Food Security Act, 2013 have also been presented to the teachers in collaboration with State Food Commission (SFC) to encourage them in proper execution of Mid Day Meal Scheme.

Training programmes for training of Cook-Cum-Helpers have been implemented and carried out by professional institutes such as Institute of Hotel Management (IHM), Shillong and Food Craft Institute, Tura. The training programmes were conducted at selected schools and were trained regarding cooking of food, safety measures for cooking and other related training procedures. In the year 2016, a total of 656 cooks and 153 teachers have been trained. 50 of the cooks will be master trainers who will in turn train the other cooks.

The Akshaya Patra Foundation has also conducted a three day workshop on “Hands-on-Training on Quality, Safety and Hygiene under MDM Scheme” for 140 Cooks-Cum-Helpers in Shillong, Meghalaya.